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EFA Partners Joins AAMA Industry Panel Discussion for Alternative Financing
June 1, 2020
New York, NY (June 1, 2020) – On June 1st, The American Amusement Machine Association (“AAMA”) held its 7th webinar in their “COVID-19: Road to Recovery Series.” The topic for the discussion was Alternative Financing during the pandemic. AAMA invited three panelists which included Howard Kahn, founder and CEO of Pivot Point, an investment banking and consulting firm focused on arranging private equity investments, Josh Liggett, an Investment Associate of OurCrowd, a venture capital private equity firm, and Ralph Willis, founding principal and Managing Partner of EFA Partners, a boutique investment firm focused on arranging capital and M&A for leisure and entertainment companies.
The panel discussion covered a variety of topics, all centered on the difficult issues that leisure companies are facing as the COVID-19 environment continues. Topics ranged from an overview of large private equity firms seeking opportunistic investments in the current environment to venture capitalists which are primarily focused on technology companies.
Mr. Willis provided color on the currently very conservative banking market and also discussed financing alternatives that could now be more favorable such as procuring capital from specialty lenders or providers of minority equity. He also discussed the current M&A market with certain companies exploring the sale of their businesses rather than investing more capital during the pandemic, while others are exploring acquisition opportunities at potentially reduced EBITDA multiples.
EFA’s principals collectively have over 90 years of experience in providing financial solutions for leisure and entertainment companies, including mergers and acquisitions, capital placement, and advisory services. In addition, the team also has deep experience in assisting companies facing financial issues during difficult economic environments. Given the many issues leisure companies are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, EFA has been advising leisure companies with restructuring and with exploring strategic options.
“I really appreciated the invitation to be on the panel and being able to discuss the issues everyone is facing in the leisure industry,” said Mr. Willis. “The EFA team has experience assisting companies during previous recessionary periods and we hope to utilize that expertise to assist companies to get through this difficult period.”
About EFA Partners
EFA Partners is a boutique financial advisory firm that provides investment banking services focused on capital raises, mergers and acquisitions, and financial consulting services for leisure and entertainment companies. Since its inception in 2009, EFA has been retained by over 160 clients, having arranged and advised on over $3.5 billion of financings in its targeted sectors. EFA has a wealth of relationships from which to source capital including local and regional banks, national and international banks, specialty finance groups, providers of construction financing, real estate financiers, equipment financiers, providers of mezzanine debt and private equity groups.
